No students will be housed in the Rubrics on campus for the second year running, as renovations are carried out on the historic buildings, The University Times has learned.
In an email statement to The University Times, Trinity’s Head of Accommodation, Anthony Dempsey, confirmed that while seven staff members currently reside in the Rubrics, no students will be staying there this year.
This marks the second year in a row that students have not been offered rooms in the Rubrics, with the buildings being taken out of service last summer. In the past, Dempsey said, there were at least 18 student bedrooms in the Rubrics.
Fire safety improvements are to be carried out in the buildings, Houses 22 to 26 in Library Square, with Dempsey saying that “the future renovation of the Rubrics will be considered in the context of wider campus planning”.
Last year, when it was first announced that the Rubrics would be taken out of the accommodation pool for students, College said that renovations would be considered. This year, these long-mooted renovations have yet to be confirmed.
Earlier this year, a proposed increase in the price of on-campus accommodation was abandoned by the College after opposition from the Take Back Trinity campaign group and Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU). A few weeks later, many students who failed to secure on-campus accommodation were angered by a new selection process, which saw rooms allocated randomly, rather than based on involvement in campus life.
The unoccupied rooms in the Rubrics could be used to house around 18 students amid an ever-worsening housing crisis in Dublin. The rooms offered in the past included shared kitchen and bathroom facilities and offered single rooms to students.
The College recently announced that 36 new student rooms were being developed in buildings on Pearse St, as part of the construction work on the Business School. These buildings have been used for office space until recently.
Despite the high cost of on-campus accommodation – rent for the Graduates Memorial Building (GMB), Front Square, Botany Bay and New Square costs just under €7,800 this year – demand for rooms in Trinity remains significant. Rooms in the Rubrics have consistently been among the cheapest on campus.
Costing just under €5,000 in 2016, the accommodation is significantly cheaper than some of the other areas on campus. However, Rubrics prices were subject to a 3.8 per cent increase last year.
Dempsey said that any increases in cost would be reinvested in the refurbishment of College’s accommodation
In addition to the supply of beds on campus, Trinity has also leased accommodation for students in nearby off-campus private complexes Kavanagh Court on Gardiner Street and Binary Hub on Bonham Street. Renovations are also underway on rooms in Oisín House on Pearse St, with 250 new student rooms expected to be made available when construction is completed in 2019.
Located just behind the campanile, the Rubrics building was built around 1700, making it the last surviving building in Library Square.
